


Dave's Second Life

by RebaK1tten



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, Angst with a Happy Ending, Character Turned Into Vampire, Established Relationship, Grief/Mourning, M/M, There's vampires so characters die
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-17
Updated: 2013-11-17
Packaged: 2018-01-01 22:08:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,114
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1049131
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RebaK1tten/pseuds/RebaK1tten
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dave's story of his life as a vampire.  </p>
<p>Kind of a sequel/partner to Life After Dave, but you don't need to read that first.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dave's Second Life

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to SSARossi on Tumblr for her beta assistance.

Dave likes most things about being a vampire.  He likes that he can see in the dark and that his hearing is so good.  He likes that he’s so strong he’s almost indestructible.  And he likes that he isn’t dead – well, not completely dead.   

He wouldn’t have chosen this for himself, but he wasn’t ready to go, so he’s glad that he gets to continue in the world.  He’s not sure exactly how this happened.  He remembers it was a regular work day, doing paperwork, ignoring his expense reports because they’re a pain in the ass (were a pain – not any more) and he and Spencer went to lunch.  Coming back to the office….that’s when it gets blurry.  They were by the building and then there was shouting and someone ran at them.  Dave moved in front of Spencer, that was just natural, no thought there at all.  And then pain.  Gunshots and the smell afterwards.  On the ground with Spencer holding him and crying.  He remembers Spencer sobbing, rocking back and forth and cradling him.  EMTs there loading him into an ambulance.  Spencer wanted to come, but they said he should follow because they need room to work.

Something sweet and warm in his mouth, the best wine he’d ever tasted.  And a whisper, “This will hold you until I see you in the morgue.”  It should have scared him, but it seemed to make sense and he could hear the promise of more of what he’d just drank and the promise of safety.

In the ER he wanted to tell them he was okay, not to worry, but he felt like he was underwater.  He wanted to tell Aaron that he’d be fine and have Aaron tell Spencer; Spencer would believe Aaron. The only time Dave was actually afraid was when they pulled the sheet over his head, but he couldn’t say anything.  He tried to remember the promise he’d be met in the morgue.

He wasn’t sure how long he was there before he heard the voice from the ambulance again.  The sheet was pulled down and again Dave got a taste of the warm drink.  This time he was allowed to drink for a while, until he was able to reach up and grab the arm in front of him.  A few more seconds and the arm pulled away with the voice saying, “That’s enough, you’ve had enough.”

Dave stayed on the gurney trying to get his thoughts together.  His stomach didn’t hurt exactly, nothing really hurt, but everything felt…off.  Finally, he was able to croak, “Who are you?  What…what is this?”

He recognizes the EMT from the ambulance who leans over him and helps Dave sit up.  He smiles and says, “My name is Nicholas, you can call me Nick.  I guess… I’m your guide to your new world.”

Nick recognized Dave’s name, and he’s a fan.  He decides that Dave is ‘one of the good guys’ so he should live.  And over the next weeks, he gives Dave lessons in Vampire 101.

Dave doesn’t need to sleep in a coffin, but he does need to stay out of the sun.  As a ‘newbie’ he’ll be tired during the day, but can sleep in a bed, or on the ground or wherever he wants.  As a vampire, he won’t have aches and pains from sleeping on the floor, so just wherever is out of the sun and doesn’t attract attention.   Very important to remember --  it’s not good to attract attention.

He won’t die of things that would kill a human.  You can shoot him or stab him, and it will heal.  Nick bites his finger and rubs it on the cut on Dave’s stomach and they watch the edges start to knit together.  Dave will be able to do that in a few months when he’s stronger.

He can die in a fire or if there’s a stake of wood or metal or anything goes through his heart.  He will die if you behead him.  All of these things sound pretty normal to Dave; anyone would die if you cut off their head.  No biggie.  Silver bullets don’t kill him (uh, that might be a werewolf) and garlic has no affect.  Most of the stories are just that – stories.   He can see himself in mirrors, he can go into churches, and there are no bats, no mists going under doors, no crawling up walls.   Oh, but he does have some thought control, mainly telling people that they didn’t see him.  That should come in handy.

He does need to drink blood, but not enough to kill the people he drinks from.  An average male has 9 to 10 pints and females 8 to 9, but of course it all depends on the size of the person.  But he can safely drink a pint or two and really not hurt the person.  Part of Dave thinks it’s strange that he’s not repulsed by this, but it seems normal.  It’s taken very little for him to start adjusting to his new existence.

Nick explains that he can kill people if he takes too much from them.  Nick has done that sometimes, and he usually hunts in areas where he expects he’ll be attacked.  That way, he doesn’t feel guilty feeding on bad people who attack others and if he drinks too much … oh well, too bad, so sad.  

Since Dave is a newbie, he’ll need to feed every day.  When he’s older, he can go a few days between feeding and then even longer.  Nick was turned early in World War II when Italy occupied Greece and he needs to feed only every month or so, but sometimes feeds more frequently just because he can. Because it tastes good.

Nick helped him swap out his body from the coffin and put in someone who they had fed on the night before.  The funeral had a closed casket, but Nick explains that if it were open, Dave would simply lie there and then be buried and Nick would dig him out.  That’s what you would do when you create someone new and that will be Dave’s responsibility when he creates a new vampire.  Nick smiles and assures him that at some point he will.  He’ll get lonely and want company like himself, at least for a little while.  Eternity is a long time to be alone.  Also, Nick warns him, eternity is a long time to be with one person, so choose carefully.

Dave doesn’t go to his funeral, he’s seen enough during the week.  His mother and sister trying to hold it together for each other.  His brothers acting tough and taking care of business.  All of them rallying around his Spencer, who looks shell-shocked. 

He wants to tell Spencer that he’s okay, but Nick tells him he shouldn’t.  As far as the world is concerned, Dave Rossi is dead and he had a service and burial and he’ll be remembered with love by friends and family.  They need to move on and Dave needs to move on.  Clearly the two worlds can’t be together.  Living and dead don’t mix.  Dave’s new life is to feed on the living, not go to lunch with them.

As much as Dave hates the idea, he knows Nick is right.  Spencer is in his early 30s and he’s certainly a catch for someone else.  He can have a whole second life with someone new and he should.  Dave watches him stay with his family, sell the home they shared together and move to a new townhouse; clearly Spencer is trying to move on.  Neither of them have any choice.

After a couple of months, Nick tells him he’s taught Dave everything he can and Dave agrees he’s ready to be on his own.  Spencer is starting over and so will Dave. 

Dave has money stashed off-shore; yes, hidden from ex-wives.   He already knows the trick of taking a fake name from an infant who died days after birth, getting the birth certificate and from that, other IDs can follow.  But for now he doesn’t need the ID or the money, so it’s saved for when he might need it later.  His retirement portfolio now needs to last much longer.

But apparently the vampire thing has also changed Dave’s ideas about luxury: it’s not necessary.  For now, he’s actually fine not having a house, just breaking in wherever he wants.  He’s spent a few days in garages he can get into and a few in the basement of the FBI building where he remembers semi-hidden entrances from the early days of the BAU.  He spends quite a lot of time in the houses that Morgan is remodeling.  There was one close call when Dave picked out his room for the day and it turned out to be the house that Morgan planned to work on. Dave vaguely heard Morgan walking overhead and was able to burrow deeper into the pile of insulation stored in the basement.  Morgan didn’t come to the basement at all that day, which was good.  Dave’s instincts kick in while he sleeps and if he were disturbed, he probably would have broken Morgan’s neck without even waking.

One place Dave tries to avoid is Spencer’s new home.  He’s seen Spencer coming and going into the BAU, and he’s noticed how he’s lost weight and looks exhausted.  But it’s only been a few months and Dave knows that grief takes times.  Of course Dave misses him and he’d go back to his old life in a minute if he could.  But he can’t, what’s done is done and can’t be changed.  If he tries to be in Spencer’s life at all, it would only undo any healing that’s happened.   And of course, Dave is a danger to Spencer, he knows that.  He’s always found Spencer alluring and delicious, but delicious now is an entirely new thing.

Actually, being a vampire isn’t very interesting, or at least it’s not interesting enough to be a full-time occupation.  David Rossi, author and FBI profiler is dead.  New Dave needs to figure out what to do with all the time he now has.

Dave has poked around the files in the BAU to see what the team is working on and especially to see what cases they aren’t able to take.  Those are the ones that interest him the most.  He was in Garcia’s office looking at cases one night when she came in unexpectedly to set off a new virus scan program that she’d developed.  If he still had a working heart, he would have had a heart attack.  She stopped and stared at him, hand on her chest.  Dave whispered, “You’re seeing things, it’s late at night.”  Garcia shakes herself and mutters, “This place is even creepier at night, I’m seeing things,” and goes about her business.   Dave takes half a dozen files, kisses her head and leaves, looking at her smiling reflection in the monitors.

The files are interesting, as always, and give Dave something to do on his long nights.  If there’s something close by that he thinks he can work on, he does.   He’s found that he can get places by entering a car, telling the driver where to take him and then telling the driver to forget about him when he leaves.  That’s handy; he could have used that with his exes.  

He can enter police stations, research files and either leave clues for someone to pick up or simply take care of things himself.  Nick is right; he doesn’t feel guilty feeding on bad people. 

After a few months, Dave decides that it would be okay to look in on Spencer, just make sure that he’s okay.  If there’s anything that’s needed, maybe Dave can take care of things while Spencer is at work.  He’s always been pretty good with his hands and maybe he can take care of electrical problems or something.  Or do the dishes, as Spencer was never big on general housekeeping.  So Dave starts to come by when he knows that Spencer won’t be there. 

At first Mudgie is completely freaked out, which makes sense.  Dave knows that he doesn’t smell like he used to – not that he knows what he smells like, but he’s assuming that he doesn’t smell like a living person.  After a few visits, Mudgie starts to adjust.  At least Dave’s voice is the same, and Mudgie likes having someone at home, so hey, the dead guy is better than no guy at all.  Of course, when the neighbor comes over to look in on Mudgie, Dave hides since he’s not ready to out himself to the neighbors.  Dave doesn’t do too much -- he does realize that if he paints Spencer’s living room while he’s out, Spencer is bound to notice.  So he just tidies up a little and watches TV with the volume down low or reads books.  Or just sits in his husband’s house because he realizes he really misses the hell out of Spencer.  The time they had together was truly the best of Dave’s life.  Satisfying work with smart thoughtful coworkers, success, money and the hottest, most loving spouse that any man could have; that’s the life he wants back.  

It’s only been eight months into the start of eternal life and Dave is bored.

However, it wasn’t planned that Dave would be sitting on Spencer’s sofa, reading a case file, with Mudgie’s head on his lap, when Spencer comes home at 2.00 am.  Dave could tell him that he’s seeing things and make Spencer forget, but he doesn’t.   So they just stare at each other, Spencer looking pale and exhausted and Dave is, for once, even paler.

“Are you real?” Spencer asks.  “I’ve been thinking that things have been moved around, but wasn’t sure.  And I can’t always trust my own thoughts.”

Mudgie paces between the two of them, whining slightly, while Dave stands.  “Spencer…I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be here,” Dave smiles slightly and tries to figure out how to get to the door.

“Feeling out of touch with other people; having little emotion or inappropriate feelings in certain situations; having less ability to experience pleasure; visual and audio hallucinations,” Spencer lists.  “Other than the last two, symptoms for depression are the same.  I had thought things were moved around in the house, but I’ve been forgetful.  Hallucinations, however…”

“Oh, god, Kitten, I’m sorry, I didn’t want to…I…I can explain,” Dave starts, but he’s not sure what he’s going to say.  All he knows is that he doesn’t want his spouse to have to worry about schizophrenia now, on top of everything else he has on his plate. 

Spencer is just staring at him and Dave moves towards him and lightly brushes his cheek.  Spencer startles and looks at Dave’s hand and then back to Dave’s face.  “You’re so cold.  I didn’t think hallucinations would have a temperature.”

“I’m sorry.  I didn’t mean to be here when you came home,” Dave still isn’t sure what to say or do.  He briefly thinks about telling Spencer to forget he was here, but he doesn’t want to confuse him further and besides – he wants to talk with Spencer even for a few minutes. 

“Where are you supposed to be?  Mudgie isn’t upset, I know when I’ve come home, he’s calm and doesn’t always need to go right out and he’s not starving.  How often have you been coming here?  Are you an angel... or a ghost?”    Spencer sits on the couch and looks at Dave expectantly.

Great, Dave thinks, he doesn’t believe in god, but is willing to think I’m an angel.

“No, it’s not like that.” Dave still doesn’t know quite what to say, but he can’t leave Spencer like this.

“So explain it to me. I saw you stabbed by a sexual psychopath. I saw you bleeding, you had coded when they put you in the ambulance. I was at your funeral.  I saw your coffin lowered into the ground.  How are you here?”

Dave sighs. Living with Spencer has never been easy, he just doesn’t let things go. Not that having your dead spouse in the living room is something most would let go, but still. “Okay, this is going to sound strange, but I’m not a ghost.  Actually, I’m a vampire.” Dave smiles and lifts one side of his lip to show his canine tooth.

“Really?” Spencer grins and looks relieved. “That’s good, that kind of works. I’m actually thinking this is either a dream or a really vivid hallucination.  Either way, I’m good with it. I’ve missed you so much, Dave. I’ve just missed talking with you. Mudgie has missed you, too, but it looks like the two of you are getting along great.”

“Yeah, well it took him a bit, but he’s okay with me being here.” Dave scratches his dog’s head and is rewarded with a few tail thumps of his tail.

“So what were you doing here? Are those case files?” Spencer sits on the couch and pulls the files towards him. “These are from work? You’re the undead and you can’t stop working?  I guess you don’t need to worry about your blood pressure anymore.”

“Sorry, guess it’s a habit, Spence. Frankly, there’s not all that much to do at night, at least not a lot that I should be doing.” Dave sits in the chair opposite the couch, because he doesn’t want to sit too close to Spencer.  Just since he’s been in the room, Dave can feel the temperature in the room has risen. He hasn’t spent that much time in enclosed rooms with people, and especially now, Spencer’s scent is making him a little dizzy. Spencer has always affected him, but this is something different.

Spencer looks at the files that Dave has been working. “I haven’t seen these; they’re some pretty old ones. Why do you have these?”

“Just trying to find something I could work on. It’s not like I can write anything right now – unless you want to find something I wrote and publish it posthumously?” Dave grins. “I did startle Garcia one night; she caught me in the office.”

Spencer sits up. “She caught you? Someone else has seen you? How is that possible? Has anyone else seen you?  Dave, you know I think I’m having a psychotic episode.  If I’m not, I’d like to know.”

“Spencer, I told you. I know it sounds unbelievable, but it’s true. Garcia saw me and I told her that she was imagining it.  Your next door neighbor saw me and I told her not to worry about it, so if she sees me again, she won’t think I’m a burglar.  I’m not sure how to convince you.”  Turning into a bat would really come in handy right now.

Spencer stands and holds his arms out. “Hold me? It doesn’t really matter if it’s real, but when I wake up, I want to have this as my memory. I don’t dream about this part.  I don’t dream the good stuff, I just dream about the end.”

Dave hesitates only a second before moves towards Spencer and pulls him close. Spencer rests his head on Dave’s shoulder and murmurs into his neck, “You’re cold. Not cold exactly, I guess you’re probably room temperature. That would make sense, no heartbeat, no breathing. I can’t feel your pulse in your neck.”

Dave can’t help but whimper quietly and Spencer steps back to look at him. Dave is staring off in front of him and his irises are solid black. Not just like they are when his pupils are dark with lust, but completely black.   Dave knows he’s strong, stronger than he ever was before and he takes a breath and pulls himself together.  He can see in Spencer’s eyes, the bit of concern that he may not be safe.  But it’s Dave.  He’s safe with Dave, Dave has never been dangerous to him and Dave smiles slightly to let Spencer knows he isn’t now.   

“I should go.  I need to be gone by sunrise anyway, I should just go.”  Dave starts walking to the door; this was a really bad, selfish, bad so so bad idea.  Spencer was starting to get back together and Dave interrupted that.  And it’s not working all that well for Dave, either.  It won’t happen again.

“Don’t go, Dave, please.  It’ll be okay and…hold on, don’t go till I get back, promise?” Spencer calls as he rushes into his bedroom.  He’s back in a minute, wearing red flannel pajama pants, a green turtleneck and a purple and black scarf wrapped around his neck.  Dave gave him the scarf for a birthday a couple of years back. 

Dave smiles a little, trying to be sure that he’s not showing too much tooth.  “Nice outfit, I’m gone for a bit and you go back to looking like you dress in the dark?” Actually this is better, everything covered up, including the smell of him.  He’s still standing, not sure if he should stay or go.  Brain says go and heart beating or not, says stay.

Spencer sits on the sofa and points to the far end.  “Sit.  You sit far away from me and Mudgie can sit with me.  Please Dave?  Tell me where you’ve been, what happened?”

Dave sits and they start to talk.  It’s comfortable and familiar but still exciting; Spencer’s brain works so fast and he asks intelligent questions and understands things Dave doesn’t spell out.  Well, some of that is just from how long they’ve been together, the short cuts that married people have in conversations.  Dave tells him everything that he’s been doing, what his ‘life’ is like now.  Spencer doesn’t judge that Dave has killed people, even when Dave expresses doubts about what he’s done.  Spencer just says that in the animal kingdom, weaker animals die for food; in Dave’s case, he’s not preying on the physically weaker, he’s choosing those who are morally weaker or plain evil.  Yes, he’s a predator, but he’s a thoughtful one.

They talk until Dave realizes it’s almost dawn.  “Kitten, I have to go, I absolutely cannot stay here.   It’s not safe for you.”

“Dave, we’ll make it safe.  There’s an extra bedroom, you can go in there and lock yourself in.  Believe me, I don’t want to wake you and have you either pull my head off or turn into dust – do you turn into dust, what happens in the sun, do you know?”  Spencer starts towards what Dave knows is an extra room, filled with some extra furniture and boxes that he hasn’t unpacked yet. 

“I don’t know exactly what happens and I don’t intend to find out.  Is that a closet?”   Dave opens the door into a small walk-in closet being used for storage and he starts to pull boxes out into the room.  “I’ll stay in here and lock myself in.  And you and Mudge have to stay out, no kidding.  I wake up when it’s time and then we should probably talk about what’s next.  Okay, out,” Dave says and shoves Spencer towards the door.

Before he leaves the room, Spencer hands Dave a couple of pillows and a comforter, which are unneeded, but thoughtful.  And then Spencer leans forward and kisses Dave softly on the lips.  It’s full of concern and worry and love and is the best thing that Dave has felt in months.  Once again, he’s totally fucked. 

Spencer leaves the room and Dave locks the door and then shoves a couple of dressers in front of the door to the room.  He makes a bed on the closet floor, shuts that door and is instantly asleep.  Like the dead.

Noises from outside the bedroom wake Dave up just before the sun goes down.  He can hear Mudgie pacing the hallway and Spencer quietly telling him, “Let Daddy sleep.” 

Dave leaves the bedroom and the smell of Spencer hits him.  He’s always starving when he wakes up, but nothing like he feels now, basically trapped in a closed apartment with Spencer’s intoxicating smell.

“Hi, Dave, did you sleep well?  Are you okay, you look … funny.” 

Spencer is dressed like he normally is on weekends at home; in one of the sweaters Dave bought for him and old, faded jeans that he never wears out.

“I have to go out Spencer.  I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be here. I have to go.”  Dave starts for the door and Spencer blocks him from leaving.

“No, you need to eat, I understand that, but you don’t need to go.  I know you, if you go, you’ll think about how you can’t come back and you’ll do the brave, strong, noble, bullshit thing.  You said you can take a pint and be good; a pint is what a person donates at the blood bank.  So take a pint of mine, we’ll both be good and you can stay here.” 

“Spencer!  I can’t do that, you don’t know what you’re asking.  I can’t just feed on you like I’m…I’m some kind of parasite!  Let me go.  I’ll come back, I promise.”  Dave doesn’t intend to come back, at least not tonight.  He’s got to get his head back on straight.  Falling back into this domestic routine with his husband would be so easy, but it wouldn’t help Spencer.  Spencer needs to meet a nice, young, _living_ person and get on with his life. 

Spencer pulls him towards the bedroom, “Dead, but still stubborn, figures.  Come on, let’s do this fast.” 

Dave is strong, and so he doesn’t want to have to shove Spencer or do anything to accidently hurt him.  He’ll just go along and then make his escape and dear god, Spencer has pulled off his sweater and pulled Dave down into his neck.  Dave has always loved Spencer’s neck, soft and smelling faintly of his lavender soap and a clean, manly smell.  And Spencer has always liked having his neck nibbled, but probably not the way Dave wants to now. 

“Do it, Dave, I want you to.  You won’t hurt me, I trust you completely, you know that.  Do it,” Spencer whispers in Dave’s ear, with his hand on the back of Dave’s neck. 

He really doesn’t have a choice, when he wakes he’s very driven to feed and his mind is fuzzy being around Spencer.  That’s what he tells himself.  And fuck it, he wants to. He doesn’t want to control himself; he wants to feed on his spouse.  So he lets Spencer pull him down on the bed and nuzzles in to his neck and bites. 

Spencer whimpers just a little and grabs Dave’s arm.  Dave can tell when he’s had his pint and stops and licks the bite marks, quickly closing them.  Spencer stays in his arms and Dave holds him, petting his hair, rubbing his back and murmuring meaningless, silly things to him.

After a few minutes, Spencer sits up a bit and looks at Dave with half shut eyes.  “That didn’t hurt much.  The first bite did, just a bit, but you know I’ve always liked you to bite me.  I should probably have something to drink or some orange juice, I think that’s what they give you when you donate blood.”

“You wait here, I’ll get it.”  Dave brings back a bottle of juice and a box of cookies and sits facing Spencer, watching him eat.  “You okay?”

“Sure,” he shrugs.  “Are you?  I’m not traumatized or anything, Dave.  Really.  I’m fine and I’m glad you’re back.  It’s like I told you last night, I’ve missed you.”

“So you know that you’re not sick or hallucinating or anything?”  Dave looks at Spencer carefully; he doesn’t look as worried as he did when he first saw Dave.

“Oh, yeah, I get it, you’re real.  And you’re back.  While you were sleeping, I read everything I could find on vampires, both on line and all the books.  As you said, the fiction doesn’t quite match your reality, which is good.  Of course I read Dracula and Carmilla and re-read everything about Vlad the Impaler.  Oh and I read The Strain trilogy; glad there’s no worms and your penis doesn’t seem to be falling off – it’s not, right? I didn’t look.”

“Yeah, everything with that is fine, thanks for asking.  But I think I should go.  Thanks for letting me sleep here and, uh, thanks for, you know, the blood and I’ll go.  I’m sorry again, Spencer, I shouldn’t be here.”  Dave shakes his head and starts to leave the bedroom.

Spencer grabs Dave’s arm and pulls him towards the sofa in the living room.  “Dave, don’t be silly.  You don’t need to go, there’s no reason for you to.  Now I know what happened and you’re okay and we can make this work.  I know we only committed until death do us part, but I think we should keep going.”

In one way, it sounds kind of crazy – Dave’s dead, he knows that.  But on the other hand, how many people are lucky enough to be in love with someone who doesn’t think being dead is a good reason to break up?  His second wife left him for much less than that.

Dave sits on the sofa and looks carefully at Spencer.  “This will take a lot of adjustments, Kitten.  Our schedules are going to be pretty different, and you can forget going out for nice dinners.” 

“Dave, really?  Dinners aren’t all that important to me; well they will be in order to be sure I have enough iron, so you can feed when you need to.”  Before Dave can object, Spencer holds up his hands and says, “and I don’t expect you to all the time, that wouldn’t be healthy for me.  So just when you _have_ to.  And my schedule has always been a mess, so that won’t be new.” Spencer is practically bouncing with excitement, but suddenly stops and gives Dave a concerned look.  “Would you want to?  I hadn’t thought of it, but maybe … maybe just a regular life would be boring to you?  You’re supernatural and I’m probably boring.  Oh my god, are you seeing someone else?”

“Spencer, no, I promise!”  Dave says, grabbing his hands.  “No, of course not.  I haven’t given any thought to anything like that or anyone or being with anyone or…”

“Okay, I’m sorry, Dave, I’m not thinking really clearly.  And damn, your hands are cold.”  Spencer pulls him forward, pulling their hands to his chest.  “So.  What are we going to do?  I told you what I want.  What do you want to do?”

Dave let himself be held.  It had always annoyed him, just a little, that his husband is taller, but now he can’t imagine why it had bothered him. Death has almost made him mellow.  And this time with Spencer has made him remember how much he enjoys his husband and how much he’s missed him.  “You deserve better.  You deserve to meet someone and fall in love and marry again.  Spencer, you deserve someone who isn’t dead, for god’s sake.”

“I don’t want better, Dave, I want you,” Spencer says, smiling.  “I can’t believe I have to do the whole ‘convincing you to give us a shot’ again.  I already won that once.  Just remember all that stuff from before about not paying attention to what other people think and who cares, age is just a number.  Except now it’s … death is just a state of existence?” 

“I think this is a horrible idea, Spencer.  I shouldn’t have come back into your world.”  Dave says this, but he hasn’t left their embrace, cuddling on the couch they picked out together, nose in Spencer’s warm neck.   “But how about this?  I’ll stay this weekend and leave on Monday when you go to work.”

Spencer pulls back and looks at him appraisingly.  “Okay, that’s a start.  Meaning I have two more days to convince you to stay.  Are you comfortable?  You’re not hungry, right?”

“I’m fine, Spencer.  So what would you like to do tonight?  We can go out, we can stay in.  Anything you’d like.  Just remember, I’m anti-Cinderella and I need to be in by daylight.” 

“Okay, great, Dave!  First thing, I think we need to take Mudgie out for a long walk.”  Hearing his name and the magic word, Mudgie suddenly appears, tail wagging, leash in his mouth.  “Good boy.  I don’t want to do much of anything, just spend time with you.  And you need to tell me more about this Nick person.”  Spencer connects the leash to Mudgie’s collar and hands it to Dave. 

They spend hours just walking and talking, catching up on what they’ve been doing.  Dave talks about the people he’s met and some of the places he’s traveled.  Spencer talks about cases they’ve worked on and updates Dave about the team and how his family is doing.

Spencer doesn’t last until dawn, so around 2.00, they head home.  Dave finds a movie to watch and Spencer falls asleep with his head in Dave’s lap.  When he wakes up, Dave is gone and he’s left a note that he’ll be back in the evening.

The next two days are a lot like the first.  Except that Dave slept again in the guest room and leaves immediately when he wakes up, without even stopping to say anything to Spencer.  Dave knows Spencer would worry, but he’s trusted Dave so far and Dave said he’d be there.  It took a while, but they trust each other.  When he comes back, looking almost flushed, Spencer just kisses his cheek and asks if he’s up to watching the new Torchwood DVDs. 

After the long weekend, Spencer goes back to work looking happier than he has in a long time.  The first couple of days, he seems surprised to see Dave back at home when he returns from work.  But Dave has found that sleeping locked in the guest room closet is safe and convenient.  When Spencer goes out for a few days on a case, Dave goes to a hardware store and gets a couple of extra locks and installs them on the closet door and the bedroom door.  He tells Spencer that he trusts him completely, but if someone else comes in, he wants to be sure he’s safe. 

Spencer brings home more closed files and some their team hasn’t been able to take, and in the evenings they review the cases, and write up profiles.  When they’re done with work, they watch movies or read together or just sit and talk.

Most nights, Spencer falls asleep long before dawn, and Dave either lets him sleep on the couch or carries him to bed.  Dave prefers letting him sleep where he is. Carrying him to bed, holding him close, with everything smelling so much like Spencer is a little difficult for him to handle. 

There have been nights when Spencer has hinted that he’s open for sex, but Dave isn’t sure how that would work.  Spencer has said Dave’s cold when they touch.  The only time he’s really warm is when he’s just come back from a full feeding – one that ends someone’s life, and Dave doesn’t feel very romantic rushing back from killing someone to try to make love with Spencer. 

Besides there’s a little matter of not having a beating heart, meaning no actual blood flow, meaning… it rarely happened to Dave while he was alive (and never with Spencer), but now the only time that he actually gets an erection is when he’s feeding on Spencer.  And since he doesn’t want to do that, at least not often, there aren’t a lot of options.  Dave’s hands are a little chilly for a handjob and Spencer’s a little leery about Dave’s teeth for much oral. 

Generally, Spencer seems fine with it.  He tells Dave not to worry, he loved sex with Dave, but they were always about more than that.  Dave knows that, but eternity without sex?  Of course, it won’t be eternity for both of them as Spencer will age and eventually die.  Dave’s not ready to even think about that part yet, he’s just found Spencer again and it’s almost like they’re back in their first honeymoon phase – minus the sex and with a little more biting, of course.

Dave decides to check with Nick and see if he has any advice.  He’s expecting to get a lecture about keeping away from the living, and that is the first thing he gets. Nick doesn’t sound angry, just disappointed that it hasn’t been a year yet and Dave’s already gone back to his human partner.

“You know there’s not a lot of ways for this to end, right?” They’re sitting on a bench outside the EMT station at 3.00 in the morning.  Nick shakes his head at Dave.  “You stick around, he gets old and dies and your heart breaks.  Or you take too much, either at one time or gradually and he dies.  Or, if he’s as smart as you say, he decides he can’t live with you and he kicks you out.  Or, you turn him.”  Nick shrugs.  “You have a preference here?”

“He should kick me out,” Dave says.  “But he won’t.  I know I should leave, but not yet. But, I’m not going to turn him, he doesn’t need this.”

They sit silently for a couple of minutes.  “If you turn him, the sex is great, by the way.  Maybe I shouldn’t tell you that, Dave, but man…messy, but definitely the way to go.  Actually, it’s the only reason I ever try to find other vamps.”  Nick looks at Dave with a grin.  “Not you, though.  To each his own, but you’re not my type.”

“No problem, Nick,” Dave says, with a smile.  “You’re not my type either.  But it’s good with another one like us?  What do you mean messy, can I hurt him?”

“No, you can’t hurt him.  Okay, so you’re with your boyfriend now, right, and you just want to chew him up, yeah?”

Dave nods, quietly.  This isn’t the time to correct from ‘boyfriend’ to ‘husband’ and Dave hates thinking how accurate that statement is, but yes.

“But you can’t, cause you just can’t, right?” Nick continues, holding his palms up.  “You take too much and he gets sick or you accidently kill him, which isn’t sexy or romantic.  But if he was a vamp, too – the desire is still there and you know you can’t hurt each other, so it’s really good.  And you can bite each other as much as you want.”

Dave chest feels tight for a minute, when he thinks of Spencer’s long, pale neck.  “Okay, I can see that.  Spencer says that I’m cold, which I guess I am, compared to him.  So he’d also be the same temperature, which would be good.”  Dave and Nick sit quietly for a few minutes.  There’s no rush right now, both have nothing but time. 

Eventually, the alarms at the station go off and Nick jumps up.  “Gotta go, lives to save.  Lemme know how things turn out, okay?”  He pats Dave’s shoulder and goes into his building, leaving Dave with too much to think about.

Back at Spencer’s, Dave looks at the files Spencer’s brought home.  He’s been bringing home more of the files that the team can’t take and in the evenings they review the files and work up profiles that Spencer sends out.  Dave’s worried he’s working too much and not sleeping, but they like spending the time together and unless Spencer quits his job, this is the only time they can spend together.  Dave’s not in the mood to look through the files, so finds Spencer in bed.  Spencer curls up on him, pulling the blankets closer for the warmth that he doesn’t get from Dave.  When he pushes his fingers into Dave’s mouth, Dave nips his ring finger and sucks gently until Spencer rolls over and falls back asleep.

It’s a few weeks later when Spencer comes home and tells Dave that he’s been asked if he’ll work only on closed cases.  Apparently Director Strauss has received praise and thanks from several agencies and so she asked Hotch if Spencer could concentrate only on closed cases and those the team can’t get to.  Dave isn’t certain it’s the best idea for his career or for the two of them, Spencer so close all the time.  But Spencer seems happy and ultimately that’s all Dave wants. 

They fall into a pattern they’ve never had before. With both at home, even spending hours writing profiles for the files from work, it’s almost like they’ve retired. 

Of course, they mainly live at night.  The days are getting shorter and Spencer sleeps most of the day, setting his alarm when he needs to be in a meeting or for his weekly trips to the office.  Dave sometimes sleeps in a chair in Spencer’s room, but usually he goes into his closet and sleeps under the stack of blankets they’ve set up for him. 

They’ve found that there’s very little they can’t do while they’re awake at night.  Stores and restaurants are open.  Now that it’s dark early, they can go to museums and to the theatre.  With some planning, they’ve taken some weekend vacations, taking short red-eye flights and staying at small, private hotels.  Because Dave can tell people to forget seeing them, they sometimes get into places that are closed to the public.  Dave doesn’t like to do it often, but sometimes it’s irresistible if it’s something Spencer wants.

The other thing Dave’s given up resisting is sex, or what’s become their version of sex.  It’s a lot of kissing and touching and usually ends with Spencer jerking off while Dave holds him and whispers encouragement into his ear.  Dave tries hard not to bite Spencer, but this is when he’s most likely to lose his tightly held control and at least take a quick nip.

“I wouldn’t object if you had a lover, Spencer, I’d completely understand,” Dave tells him late one night when they’re reading on the living room couch.  Spencer is curled up on Dave and wrapped in an extra blanket now that it’s winter.  The only trouble with longer, colder days is it takes longer for Dave’s temperature to come back up to the 75 degrees Spencer keeps the house. 

“I have a husband, Dave, so stop it.  Unless you’re trying to get rid of me.”  They’ve had this discussion before, and Spencer doesn’t even look up from his book.   “You could kill me now, I guess.  I assume at some point, you’ll turn me into a vampire, right?”

And they’ve had this discussion, too, several times.  Spencer says Dave will eventually turn him and Dave says it’s a bad idea.  Spencer replies that Dave has said their relationship was a bad idea every step of the way, and he always gives in eventually.  Dave snorts and they stop talking about it until the next time.  But Dave knows that at some point he will. 

For the one year anniversary of Dave’s death, Spencer takes a couple of days off work and they drive to New York, spending nights sight-seeing, shopping and seeing shows.  They carefully hang blankets over the blackout curtains and Dave and Spencer sleep during the days.

Spencer apologizes for being weepy and having nightmares and Dave assures him that he understands, his sleep isn’t dreamless either.  But he dreams of Spencer being killed at work; gunshots, explosions and young men with feverish eyes holding knives.

On their last day, they shower together in water so steamy that Spencer turn bright pink and Dave feels warm.  Dave finally gives in and fucks Spencer slowly and gently, nipping his neck and knowing that he’s taking too much, but he can’t stop himself from doing either thing.

“You won’t leave again, will you, David?”  Spencer asks later, wrapping himself in Dave’s arms.  “I meant what I said --  I want to be with you forever.”

“No, Kitten, I’m not leaving.  But do you know what you’re asking, to be with me forever?  I don’t even know much about what I’m doing.   Forever is a long, long time.”  Dave holds Spencer, kissing his head, and pushing back the damp curls.  “I’d be happier if we waited until you’re older and until you’re sure.  It’ll happen, but now just seems too soon.”

“Dave, I knew I wanted forever with you when we first started dating.  That hasn’t changed.  And how much older do I have to be?  I’m old enough to know my own mind and frankly, my body isn’t going to get any better with age.  I love the way you look now and I know you find me hot,” Spencer grins at the last part.  “Freeze me like this now.  You know you want to.”

Dave shakes his head, gets up and starts to dress.  “You’re going to be a little smart-ass for all eternity, aren’t you?  Come on, get up, we gotta go.   We need to be back at the house by dawn.  Remember, you’ll have to plan everything for that.  Home by dawn that’s the rule.”  Dave goes into the bathroom and starts packing up for the drive back to their regular lives.

They don’t discuss turning Spencer again for a few more weeks, until Spencer is told that he has to take a month off.  He’s accumulated too much vacation time and Hotch says he has to take it.  Dave is a little surprised that Spencer doesn’t fight it at all.  But he’s anxious to spend more time with Dave and comes home with lots of plans.   Mainly, during this month, Dave will turn him.

“I think I’ve waited long enough, Dave.  There’s no reason to let me get older and sick.  I’m only going to go downhill from here.  And quite frankly, I like the age that I’m at and I like our age difference now.”  Spencer takes a breath and pushes Dave into a chair.  “Besides…look at me.  Not like Dave, not like you see me every day.  Look at me like you don’t know me.”

Dave sits back and really looks at Spencer.  He’s lost more weight and his skin is so pale, he’s almost translucent.  The circles under his eyes are darker, so dark he looks like he’s been punched. Even his hair looks tired.

“Spencer…I didn’t realize.  I didn’t think I was…”

He’s quickly interrupted by Spencer.  “Don’t you dare feel guilty and don’t make me feel guilty.   I’m trying to eat right and take extra vitamins, but I think I got run down after you died and it’s like I can’t get caught up now.  And it’s no one’s fault, it just is.”  Spencer goes to Dave and sits on his lap, straddling him, resting his head on Dave’s shoulder.  Dave rubs his back and realizes his spine is more prominent than it was even a couple of months ago.

“What’s the plan then, Spencer?  I know you, you always have plans.  So tell me what I’m going to do.”  He may be the one who is immortal, but Dave knows who runs the show.

“What we’re going to do.  First, I’m going to visit your family and let them fatten me up.  If you’re going to turn me, I should try to be as healthy as possible when you do, since I will be locked in that way.  No use having me look too tired, right?”  He kisses Dave’s neck and continues, “In the meantime, you get to figure out where we’ll go.  Because we can’t stay here, obviously.  When we do it, we need to vanish.”

Dave holds Spencer, sniffing his clean hair and smelling how warm and alive he is.  He’ll miss this, but it’s for selfish reasons and he’s getting the opportunity to keep Spencer with him forever – or at least a lot longer than he thought he had when they married.  “Italy.  I always thought I’d retire to Italy.  What do you think?”

Spencer sits back and looks at him thoughtfully.  “I can’t speak Italian, but I know you do.  And I’ll have plenty of time to learn.  My only concern is Mudgie.  We’ll be able to take him?”

“Of course we’ll have him with us.  I guess this is what I need to figure out, while you’re gone, right?  We could fly, I suppose.  I’ll need to check on what papers he’ll need.  Or I can see if my friend, Nick, can take him while we get settled and then he can send him over.  If we decide to do that, maybe we can take a cruise ship...”

“A cruise?” He asks, excitedly.  “That would be fun, I’ve wanted to do that.  It would be safe for us?  Seems like close quarters.  I guess you know about this stuff or where to find out?”  He moves so he’s back curled up on Dave’s lap, head on Dave’s shoulder.  “I’ll call your sister tomorrow and arrange to go visit.  And yes, while I’m gone, you get to plan for the immediate future.  You’ll be okay, while I’m gone?” 

“Sure,” Dave says quickly.  “Probably good for me to have you out of the way while I’m trying to plan things.  I find you distracting, you know.”  He sits back with his arms around Spencer, and they’re both quiet.

“Does it hurt?  Changing?  Dying?”  Spencer whispers into Dave’s neck, still locked in his arms.

Dave doesn’t say anything for a minute, thinking of the answer.  “I don’t remember actually.  I know that being stabbed hurt and I think that when I was dying it hurt.  Changing didn’t hurt, exactly.  I don’t know how it would feel to be killed by the change.   I’ll try not to hurt you, but I can’t promise anything, I’m sorry, I just don’t know.”

“Hmm.  Doesn’t really matter, I guess, we’re doing it anyway.  I just wondered.  I like when you bite me, that feels very good, so maybe it’s just like that and a little more.   Death by blood loss normally isn’t painful in itself.”  He yawns hugely, and pulls a throw off the back of the chair and Dave tucks it around him.  “I’m napping for a few minutes, you probably got that.”

“Good, sleep for a bit, I’m not going anywhere.”  Dave kisses his temple and goes back to thinking about the next couple of weeks and planning their future.   Dave will get an apartment in Italy, they’ll leave a couple days after turning, if everything goes okay.  Suddenly Dave’s both elated and terrified.

Spencer leaves for Chicago a couple of days later, planning to stay for about two weeks.  That should be enough time him to get rested and put on a couple of pounds and for Dave to make plans for when he turns him.   Dave’s family is delighted he’s visiting and as usual, they stuff him until he’s ready to burst.  They don’t question him too hard, as they can tell by how run down he looks that he’s still mourning.  He says he’s okay, but still allows room for doubt, which is also part of the plan.  Spencer calls home every night, telling the family that he’s checking up on Mudgie with the sitter.  Dave gives him updates on travel plans, and the apartment he’s rented for them.  After they’ve been there a bit, they can decide if they want to buy a house. 

After confirming what he needs to take Mudgie with them, Dave goes to the hospital to say goodbye to Nick and let him know their plans.  Nick’s not terribly surprised the way things are turning out, just giving Dave some advice about travel and wishing them well.  “Do you think it’ll hurt him?” Dave asks, as they’re sitting on a bench outside the ER, watching the people coming in and out.

“I don’t really know, I haven’t done it to a lot of people and mostly people who were dying anyway,” Nick says, shrugging.  “I’ve never intentionally turned anyone healthy.”

“So I’m being a selfish dick is what you’re saying.  Or not saying.”

Nick snorts and grins at him.  “No, I’m trying really hard not to say that.”  He pauses and takes Dave’s hand in his.  “I saw you guys together and I think it was inevitable.  You couldn’t stay away from him and he can’t be without you.  Don’t worry so much, it’ll be okay.”

Dave was hoping for more concrete advice, a list of “do’s and don’ts” preferably.  He doesn’t remember much about when he was created, and he’s been a little worried.  Mostly that he’ll do something wrong and either hurt Spencer or he’ll kill him and won’t be able to bring him back.   

When Spencer returns, he looks rested and Dave can see he’s put on a couple of pounds.  “Your mom didn’t stop feeding me for the entire two weeks.  The only time I wasn’t eating is when she sent me to my room to sleep.”  He pats where his belly would be, if he had one.  Definitely not a belly, but not as concave as it was when he left.  “So…everything set?”

When they finally do it, it’s easier than Dave expected.  At least in some ways.  Spencer sleeps most of the day and as soon as it’s night, they go out and Dave feeds.  It’s not the first time Spencer’s gone with him, Dave wants to be sure that he knows what he’s in for.  Back home, Dave asks, “Ready?” and when Spencer nods, he pulls him close and bites.  Dave has no problem draining him and it’s easy enough to cut his own wrist with a sharp tooth.  There’s a few seconds of panic when Spencer doesn’t drink and just lies limp in Dave’s arm.   Then suddenly, he gasps and his back arches and Dave can barely hold him when Spencer flails and grabs Dave’s arm, sucking greedily.  Dave lets him drink until he feels slightly dizzy and then pulls his arm away from Spencer, whispering, “Enough, Baby, that’s enough, there’s more for you later.”  

The second part isn’t as easy.  Dying isn’t pretty and watching Spencer die isn’t something Dave ever wanted to see.  But he needs to be there to support Spencer, even though he’s barely aware of what’s happening to his body, while it’s getting ready to be the new-and-improved version.  He drags Spencer into the bathtub and sits with him while his body does all the things it does when it dies.  Dave doesn’t remember when he died; he remembers being attacked and thinks he must have died on his way to the hospital or at least in the ER.  But this part – with the body dying and being reborn?  He’s thankful he doesn’t remember.

After a couple of not-very-pleasant hours, Spencer’s eyes open and he slowly focuses on Dave.  “Spencer?  How are you?”

“Hungry.”

Nick helped Dave be ready for this.  He grabs the bag of blood from the sink counter, slits open one end and helps Spencer hold it.  Dave can see his fangs pushing through his gums as he greedily grabs the bag and drinks.  Or guzzles is more like it, pouring more in his mouth than he can swallow, with a bit leaking out the corners of his mouth and down his chin.   The bag is quickly emptied and Spencer wipes his mouth and licks his fingers.

“Better?   We can go out and get more in a little bit,” Dave says, watching Spencer watching him.

Spencer just nods and looks around the small bathroom.  “I smell,” he says, nose wrinkling. 

“Well, yeah, Kitten, dying ain’t pretty.”  Dave pulls him up and starts to undo his shirt.  “We’ll get you under the shower and get some clean clothes for you.  I probably need a shower, too.  I’ll just throw all this stuff into the incinerator when we leave.” 

Spencer lets Dave move him around, stripping them both and holding Spencer up in the shower.  By the end, he’s strong enough to hold himself up, but he’s distracted easily.  His new vampire eyes combined with the hunger are both distracting.  Dave washes them both off quickly and helps Spencer dress so they can go out and get his first dinner.

He’s quiet as Dave pulls him out of the apartment and pushes him into the car to drive them to the seediest area quickly available.  They’ve been here before, quickly in and out.  It doesn’t take long for someone to approach them and it’s easy for the two of them to grab the person and drag him into an alley.  He might have been dangerous or maybe not; for now, he’s dinner for Spencer.  Dave doesn’t quite need to pull him off, but he does need to whisper, “Spencer…Spencer!” to make sure he doesn’t take too much.  A pint or so is all they take; Dave guides him to know instinctively when it’s the right amount.  And if they need to get more than one person for a full dinner, they’ll do that. 

After he’s fed, Spencer’s much calmer and they walk around the neighborhood looking at the boarded up shop windows and planning the next few days.  “So tomorrow we should make sure to do any banking we need to.  I’ve got passports coming for us and a report from Mudgie’s vet confirming he’s got all his shots.”  Dave stops and looks at Spencer who is nodding thoughtfully, only getting occasionally distracted by the new sights and sounds around him.  Now that he’s fed, there’s a blush on his cheeks and otherwise, he’s so pale he reminds Dave of the milk glass his mother used to collect.  He’s got a little bit of scruff and while there are still circles under his eyes, they’re not as dark as they’ve been. 

“Is everything okay?  What are you looking at?” Spencer asks.

“You.  You’re beautiful,” Dave replies.

Spencer snorts and looks away; he’s never been good with compliments, even after this long.  “Well, thank yourself, you created me.”

“I had good raw material.”

Spencer takes his hand and pulls Dave to get going again.  “We should take Mudge out for a walk, he’s used to his nightly strolls.  Oh and you know what else we can do?” 

Looking at Spencer’s grin, Dave knows exactly what they can do.  “Yeah, and Mudgie might need to wait for his walk tonight.”

When it’s nearing dawn, they go to bed, locking the door so Mudgie doesn’t accidentally enter.  “Lots to do tomorrow, Dave, if we’re leaving on Saturday.  Everything ready to travel?” Spencer asks, yawning and curling into Dave’s side.  It’s been so long since they’ve slept together that for a minute Dave’s speechless.

Dave pulls him closer and forces himself to stay awake.  “Yeah, busy couple of days.  I want to call and reconfirm the flight, I chartered a plane.  Expensive, but people will do anything for enough money.”

“Hmm, thought we had a cruise, but I guess this would be safer, or at least shorter, which is good.  I guess the hardest part is behind us now, isn’t it?”  

“I hope so.  I can’t say that I particularly enjoyed killing you,” Dave whispers, dozing off.  “Honestly, I’ve just been flying by the seat of my pants.”

When the sun sets, they wake and first go out to feed.  Spencer’s calmer than yesterday and Dave admires how easily he hunts, how naturally this seems to come to him.   Afterwards, they wander the city, stopping at some of Spencer’s favorite bookstores and Dave’s favorite galleries.  It’s bittersweet, knowing this is the last time, at least for a while.

Spencer takes his arm and leans his head on Dave’s shoulder.  “So tell me about the flight, David.  You said we have a plane?”

Dave smiles and kisses his head.  “Yes, we’re being picked up just after midnight to get to the airport.  We’ll take off and the flight’s about nine hours.  We’ll land in Rome the following night.” 

“It’s safe?”

Dave nods.  “Yes, completely.  The plane has a good sized cargo hold that we can go into.  There’ll be three crew members on the plane plus us and they’re greedy, not curious.  I think they think we’re smuggling drugs or something.”

 “Our kind of people,” Spencer replies and starts to direct them back to the apartment.  “I have a good amount of money you know.  My dead husband left me a lot of life insurance money.”

“Sounds like a responsible guy.  I’ll check when we get home and make sure it all got transferred.” Dave checks to make sure Spencer’s listening and not preoccupied by the scents all around him.  It took Dave a few days to be able to fully focus on Nick’s lectures.  “That is one paper trail for the team to find.  They’ll see that your bank accounts were emptied.”

Spencer’s paying attention, but doesn’t seem too concerned.  “I know.  But they won’t know where it went, just that the accounts were closed.  You did Cayman accounts, right?”

“Um hmm,” Dave replies, nodding as they get back to the apartment.  “I have two and so do you, just in case we need to dump any.”

Mudgie jumps them when they get in the house.  He didn’t seem to have the same issues with new-Spencer as he did with new-Dave, maybe because he got used to Dave’s smell or non-smell.  “You want to feed him and I’ll take him out?” Spencer asks.  “I’m guessing you have a kennel and tranquilizers for him and all that for the flight?”

Dave nods, and starts to get Mudge’s dinner, glad that Spencer is so attached to him.  When they first got together, he was apprehensive about Mudgie’s enthusiasm and size, even though he’s very well trained.  Even at his older age, he still acts like a giant puppy.   

Spencer sits at the kitchen table, looking over the stack of papers that Dave’s placed in his messenger bag.  “What else do we need to do, Dave, to get ready to go?  You have the passports?”

“Va bene, Stefano.   Passports for Stefano and Dante Renzo are in the bag, ready to go.”  Dave grabs the bag and goes into the small living room, sitting on the couch with the bag next to him.  “Here’s yours, you take a good picture.  And even if Hotch looks, I doubt he’ll find you.”

“Stefano and Dante?  Are we brothers or what?” Spencer looks at his new passport, which does looks authentic and already has a couple of customs stamps in it, including Ireland and Romania.

“Yeah, sure, that’ll work.  Until we start making out in front of people.”

Spencer shrugs and puts the passports back in the bag.  “Well if it upsets them, we’ll eat ‘em.”

Dave looks over to check if Spencer’s joking and isn’t sure.  He’s adapted quite quickly to his new life.  “That might be extreme, dear.  And I doubt we’ll get the opportunity to see that many people, or at least ones who’ll think that we’re brothers and see us making out.” 

“Okay, I guess you have the knowledge on this one.  Or is this another instance of flying by the seat of your pants?” Spencer asks grinning.  He gets up and holds a hand out to Dave.  “Bed?”

“Bed?” Dave looks carefully at Spencer, checking his eyes and the slight flush in his cheeks.  “It’s early to go to sleep, are you feeling … oh.”

He raises an eyebrow at Dave.  “I missed this for a long time.  Missed us.”  Spencer smiles and pulls Dave into his arms, burying his face in Dave’s neck.  “It seemed so unfair when you died.  I finally – _finally_ – had someone in my life who wasn’t bored by me or intimidated by me and who treated me like an equal.  Honestly, the only reason I didn’t kill myself was because I was worried about Mudgie and who would take him.”

“Well, that’s done, Kitten,” Dave whispers into his ear.  “Come on, let’s go to bed.” 

Nick was right, it’s really good.

There are a few clean-up things to do over the next couple of nights.  Mudgie’s cage and a small bag of clothes are sent to the airport the day before they’re to leave.  They don’t need a lot, just clothes for the first night or two.  Dave’s arranged a few days of clothes in their furnished apartment, enough to cover them for a bit.  And there’s a limo to pick up them at Spencer’s apartment so they don’t need to worry about taxis or dumping a car. 

Deciding what to take with them is a five minute decision.  Dave’s found he wasn’t attached to material things any longer and Spencer never was.  The only things he wants to take are his bag, which was his mother’s, and the pictures on the mantle of their wedding, his mother and the one of the team.  Dave talks him into taking his laptop, which will make banking easier.  They’ll dump it in a few days and get something new, just in case it can be tracked.  They’re not sure it can be, but with Garcia, better to be safe than sorry.

What’s more difficult is deciding if he should leave a note.  No note would probably make them look longer, as the team might think Spencer’s been kidnapped (after all, it’s happened before).  Any note he leaves will be analyzed to see if there’s any indication that he was forced to write it.    They decide on “I’m sorry, but it wasn’t really living anyway without Dave.”  They can read whatever they want into it.

The car shows up right on time, just a couple of minutes before midnight.  “Come on, Mudge, car ride!” Dave calls and Mudgie runs over and sits waiting for his collar, as he’s been taught.  His wagging tail tells how excited he is about going out and going in a car.  “You ready, Kitten?  Nervous?” Dave asks his husband.

“Ready, yes. There’s nothing for us here.  Nervous?  I guess, a little, just about the traveling.  Not about the future,” he smiles and takes the leash from Dave.

Dave nods and gets the door, locking it after him, which is more habit than anything else.  They’re not coming back.  “We’ll be fine, come on, let’s go start our culinary tour of Europe.”

 

 


End file.
